Rancho Santa Margarita Updates Speed Limits on Four Streets

Get ready to drive a little bit slower on a pair of Rancho Santa Margarita streets and a maybe little bit faster on another.

The City Council voted to change the posted speed limit on three city streets Wednesday and add a posted speed limit to a roadway that had none before.

To comply with California law, city staff studied traffic speeds on more than 60 local roads.

Six or more speed limit signs will be changed and the 40 mph pavement legend on Avenida de Las Banderas between Avenida de Las Flores to Aventura/Esperanza.

The work is covered under the existing PV Maintenance contract and will cost less than $1,000.

The New Speed Limits

“The changes were very minor,” said city engineer Max Maximous.  “The changes we made make a lot of sense.”

To see a list of every speed limit on every street studies, see the attached PDF files. 

According to the staff report, in general, the new speed limit recommendations were found by taking the speed of 85 percent of the drivers on a particular street and rounding to the nearest 5 miles per hour.

So, for example, if 85 percent of the drivers drove 41 mph the recommended speed would have been 40.

If the 85 percent of the drivers drove 44 mph the recommended speed would have been 45.

The last major speed limit survey was May 2008.

Showing the Money

The city’s books are looking good, according to the results of a recent external audit of Rancho Santa Margarita’s finances.

Contracted by the City, the firm of White Nelson Diehl Evans did an independent examination of Rancho's books and gave the city a "clean" report, according to Paul Boyer, city director of administrative services.

“Very briefly, for the main operations of the general fund of the city, revenues were both above expenditure and below budget,” Boyer said.

Boyer said the firm also praised the city’s method of keeping track of RSM funds.

“They found that the estimates that we used were reasonable,” Boyer said and that "we didn’t go out and shop for an opinion."

Boyer added that he thinks the city will be able to win, for the 11th year in a row, the Government Finance Officers Association award for Excellence in Financial Reporting. 

 “We are an open book,” said Mayor Tony Beall. “And I hope that that brings peace of mind to our residents that our financial reporting and our finances are all strong and open and transparent. The entire book is available. It will be on our website.

Other business

• The council unanimously selected Beall to serve a a third consecutive term as mayor. The council also voted to select Carol Gamble to serve as mayor pro tem.

• City Hall will be closed on Christmas and New Year’s Day.